Postindustrial Futures

My life coach often emphasizes the power of creating win-win scenarios. To drive the point home, he often starts by dramatically interlocking his hands. He then argues that, historically, our society has leaned toward win-lose competitive mindsets. But the future, he suggests, must and is shifting toward win-win collaborations. He’s surely an optimist, but he’s not alone in that belief.

Garkovich (1992) posits that Western/American society has been grounded in three outdated values: (1) individualism, (2) winning/success, and (3) economic growth. I’ll save the economic growth rant for another time—but believe me, it’s coming!

I’m not saying these values can or should completely disappear, but they do need to be deemphasized. The major problem I’ll note in this post—and save for that future rant—is that even 30 years after Garkovich’s paper, people are still reluctant to debate the merits of these values. These are core values. They’re hard to shake!

Garkovich, however, like me, was looking to shake these values and offered three alternatives worth championing: (1) interdependence, (2) cooperation, and (3) social justice (1992). No, Garkovich didn’t coin the term ‘social justice’—that credit goes to some Italian guy named Luigi. I believe he was advocating against the oppression of his people by King Bowser (don’t fact-check me).

The point is, it’s time to champion win-win scenarios. So how do we do that? I have no idea about you, but here’s what I’m trying.

At Postindustrial Futures, our entire business model revolves around creating win-win scenarios. Our diabolical ploy is to: (1) work with communities to figure out what their wants and needs are—generally related to vacant land in their neighborhoods—and (2) identify who can, or is willing to, support these efforts financially.

Our focus, starting off, is on Baltimore City. One goal—already off to a solid start—has been building relationships with local grant givers. They want to help Baltimore’s communities, and I do too. Communities need funding, and I’m helping them get it. Grant givers want their funding used wisely, I’m their guy. Communities often need help managing grants… You get the picture. It’s a win-win-win-win!

Another potential path is federal funding like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Why it has two names, I have no idea. There’s also the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). If I’m boring you, reader, trust me, I’m boring myself even more writing this. Unfortunately, understanding these funding sources and how they operate is incredibly important.

Some of this funding could dry up under a Republican presidential administration, so the landscape might change. That said, staying optimistic, I’m keeping an eye on funding streams that are currently flowing through key agencies like HUD (Housing), the USDA (Agriculture), and the EPA (c’mon, you know this one!).

But as you can imagine, billions of dollars flowing from the federal government to local communities doesn’t happen in the most efficient way. Local nonprofits that receive this funding often find themselves overwhelmed when it comes to managing and dispersing it. These nonprofits can hire me as a consultant either before they seek the funding or after they’ve received it. Essentially, I can function as a temporary employee, helping them manage the money and meet the required outcomes.

Lastly—in my most diabolical scheme yet—there are numerous wealthy individuals in and around Baltimore City who want to see the city thrive. I offer them a vision for success at the community level. I’m considering creating a donor pool that can be tapped on a project-by-project basis through a crowdfunding platform. Folks donate to the community organizations or nonprofits I’m partnering with (win), those organizations keep some of the money (win), and then pay me the rest to help see the project through (win). Pretty sweet, huh? We’ll see how far altruism gets me. Have I mentioned I’m an optimist? I really do try!

In terms of the scale, Baltimore City has over 20,000 vacant lots, according to the Abell Foundation. Get a community together, and one or more of these lots can be transformed into community-managed open space. And it’s already happening. My former employer, Baltimore Green Space, actively kept tabs on hundreds of these spaces that have already been transformed. So let’s work together to keep the transformation going. That’s a win-win!

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References

• Garkovich, L. (1992). Weaving the fabric of tomorrow’s communities. In P.F. Korsching et al. (Eds.), Multicommunity collaboration: An evolving rural revitalization strategy (pp. 305-316). North Central Regional Center for Rural Development.

Image Credit:

• Image via Google Images.
• Super Mario Bros. image via YouTube video by t3Qr8ebAB48.
• Uncle Sam giving money image via FedSavvy.